1. Motorpsycho – Kingdom Of Oblivion (Rune Grammofon/Stickman)
When we’re used to artists taking 3-9 years between albums, it’s a treat to get such a steady flow of new music from one of my favorite bands, especially because they seem to outdo themselves in different ways every time. While last year’s double album featured the adventurous, experimental “N.O.X.” suite, they amazingly had more recordings from those sessions that were more hard rockin’, and saved them for this double album. | Full Review | Buy
2. Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows – The Magnetic Ridge (Suspect/Pirates Press) May 17
Bendigo, Australia’s Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows second full length album turns up on the volume and noise from their garage blues punk noir of Hymns (Suspect/Pirate Press, 2018), making them sound more like the noise rock of Lubricated Goat than the Scientists. They maintain an element of slow and low desert psych, but the menacing guns, peyote and decomposing bodies lurch now leans toward sludge metal and stoner doom, something there’s no shortage of.
3. TEKE::TEKE – Shirushi (Kill Rock Stars)
Montreal’s TEKE::TEKE originally formed in tribute to Japanese guitarist Tekeshi Terauchi, who pioneered a hybrid of Eleki and Ventures style surf rock with the Bunnys in the mid-60s, and later the Blue Jeans. Their full-length debut is not what you’d expect from that information. The surf guitar is no more prominent in their music as it was in the Pixies — a ghostly whisper amidst the cacophony of psych prog, noise rock, post-punk and more. In live clips Etienne Lebel’s trombone looks like it was rescued from a dumpster. The brass horn accents give me fond flashbacks of Tragic Mulatto and Dog Faced Hermans.
4. Civic – Future Forecast (Flightless)
Since my Aussie Garage Punk piece in 2018, it seemed that the kind of rippin’ post-Saints/Radio Birdman/Scientists garage punk disappeared, with the exception of Tropical Fuck Storm. Royal Headache broke up, no peeps from The New Christs or Hits, it was only a matter of time that the punk would leak out in some form. While the 70s Saints/Birdman force is strong in this band, I also hear a touch of post-hardcore/noise edge hear from the likes of 90s bands Gaunt and Hot Snakes, while “Shake Like Death” references mid-80s Sonic Youth for a change of pace. For the most part these are energetic, hard driving while also relatively melodic and memorable. Some fans are already lamenting that they like the first EP New Vietnam (2018) best, but this is an excellent debut from a promising band.
5. The Vintage Caravan – Monuments (Napalm)
In the recent Battle at the Garden Monument of Oblivian, Iceland’s The Vintage Caravan fared well, the quality of their songwriting reigning supreme over the likes of newcomers Greta Van Fleet. The bombast and marketing of more mainstream bands might surpass the Icelandic band commercially, but they are well deserving a place in the hard rock pantheon. | Full Review
6. Jess And The Ancient Ones – Vertigo (Svart) May 21
This Finnish seven-piece group has been on the front line of the psych noir renaissance since 2012 alongside The Devil’s Blood, Blood Ceremony, Purson, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats and Mansion. This is their fourth album, along with two fairly ambitious, proggy EPs, and a side project, The Exploding Eyes Orchestra. Of all the bands exploring the occult doom psych territory, JATO is probably the next most consistently melodic and accessible after Purson/Rosalie Cunningham. But instead of the Beatles, their roots lean more toward American west coast bands like Jefferson Airplane and the Doors, with Jess’s vocals an urgent siren on top like a turbo-charged Ann Wilson (Heart). Their progressive elements are shown full flower with the 11:34 closing epic “Strange Earth Illusion,” with Deep Purple/ELP organs and nice guitar solos from the Thomases (Corpse and Fiend).
7. Gojira – Fortitude (Roadrunner)
I’m glad I was paying attention to Gojira at their peak in the mid-2000s and saw them live. It’s hard to say they’ve been in decline since L’enfant sauvage (2012), but I didn’t love their adoption of that mechanical industrial sound of Killing Joke/Ministry filtered through Machine Head and Prong. Despite my disappointment in Magma (2016), I considered Terra Incognita (2001) through that as a pretty magnificent six album run. And while one could argue that Fortitude is not as exciting as their debut, I think it’s at least a step up from Magma, with more engaging progressive elements along the lines of Mastodon’s Crack The Skye (2009).
8. Night Battles – Year Of No Days (Snappy Little Numbers)
This young band has a way to go to take ownership of their name. Google searches result mostly in reviews of the 1966 academic history book, The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries by Carlos Ginzburg. It looks interesting, actually. The benandanti fertility cult fought ritual battles with witches in wizards in dream-like (drug-enhanced?) states to protect harvests. Due to culture clashes with the inquisitors, within a century, the anti-witches became the witches. Anyway, there’s this cool new garage noir band that formed in Raleigh, NC and released their first Remedy and Cause EP in 2018. A gloomy Joy Division post-punk vibe is ubiquitous, but there’s also nice touches like the surf guitar intro to “Summer of Loathe” and chiming atonal noise rock via early Sonic Youth. I chunked my money into the virtual Bandcamp preorder jukebox after hearing just a couple preview tracks, I’m all in. I don’t see Night Battles storming the charts alongside their baleful brethren Bambara, Vincas, My Dear Mycroft, The Buttertones, Dead Visions and Wailin Storms anytime soon, but they deserve at least the kind of attention that Protomartyr has gotten.
9. The Coral – Coral Island (Run On/Modern Sky)
If there’s a band that deserves to financially benefit from the weird sea shanty fad on social media it’s The Coral, formed in 1996 in the seaside town of Hoylake, Merseyside, near Liverpool. They kicked off their 2002 self-titled debut with the shanty “Spanish Main.” Since then, they released a series of consistently excellent indie garage psych albums that didn’t quite surpass the promise of their debut. With side projects like Ian Skelly’s Skeleton Key bubbling over, it’s not like they lack the inspiration or ambition. They needed something to do their creativity justice, and what better way than a sprawling double themed album (number ten) about the rise and fall of a seaside resort narrated by the Skelly brothers’ grandfather, Small Faces’ Ogden’ Nut Gone Flake style. The sunny, whimsical nostalgia of the first half (Welcome to Coral Island), rivals anything Teenage Fanclub has come up with over three decades. The second half (The Ghost of Coral Island) wallows in the morose desolation after it’s all shut down. But the band’s colors still burst through the grey gloom, the gentle beauty glowing on the likes of “Faceless Angel” and “Strange Illusions.” There’s the sea shanty-ish “Golden Age,” while “Take Me Back to the Summertime” evokes the jauntiness of Super Furry Animals and peak Kinks. “Watch You Disappear” repurposes Del Shannon’s “Runaway” into an evocative garage noir number. Haunting melodica evokes Damon Albarn’s work with Gorillaz and The Good The Bad And The Queen. The result is one of their very best albums, well beyond when most bands are past their expiration date. | Buy
10. Triptides – Alter Echoes (Alive Naturalsound)
On my recent psych pop rabbit hole deep dive, Triptides were a late discovery that didn’t get the attention they deserve. Their seventh album is worthy of having it lavished on them, with a hazy, dreamy vibe and finely constructed tunes a step of from their previous album Visitors (2018), and a vast improvement in sound quality over their charming but lo-fi early work. They really make use of the studio Beatles style, varying their approach from the wiggly woozy The Three O’Clock style vocal treatments on “Do You Ever Wonder?” to the crisp, bright jangle pop of “Let It Go.” There’s a lot of slow burners like “Moonlight Reflection,” and “Shining,” but each track has a unique texture, with the latter harking back to lush Pink Floyd production but with melodic hooks worthy of Fleetwood Mac. “Hand of Time” shakes things up and rocks out with some fuzz guitar, and “She Doesn’t Want to Know” evokes late period Zombies. The surf vibe hinted at earlier on “Do You Ever Wonder?” hangs ten full-on with album closer “Now and Then.” Highly recommended summer vacay/backyard/beach listening. I’ll definitely have this with me when I get to swim for the first time in two years.
11. Bhopal’s Flowers – Alstromeria: A Journey On Earth & Beyond (Bhopal’s Flowers)
While there’s a world wide community of fans and blogs and discussion forums that support the heavy end of psychedelia (stoner/doom/fuzz), it’s a shame that psych pop gets ignored by those same people unless they reach the mainstream crossover level of Tame Impala. There’s a lot to love right now in this genre right now, from prog and folk tinged The Sonic Dawn and Custard Flux to the diverse Triptides reviewed above, and two bands from Montreal, Elephant Stone, who put out the massively ambitious, and massively overlooked Hollow last year, and Bhopal’s Flowers. Like Elephant Stone, they incorporate sitar-driven Raga Rock on many songs, and have tackled an ambitious concept, a 24 hour song cycle exploring mysteries of the earth, cosmos, and metaphysical universe. Like The Coral, they divided the album into a joyous first half of Sunshine Pop, while the dark side delves in what they call Moonlight Pop. I have to admit the first single “Napoleon Candy Sweet” is a bit much, sounding like Kula Shaker on a massive sugar buzz, singing about “jingle jangle boots.” But what the F, it’s nearly summer, let’s do this. The sun half is consistently enjoyable with meticulous arrangements made to sound effortless and effervescent, but it gets even better on the dark half. “Moonlight Girl” could be a lost and lonely track off Big Star’s Third, while “A Night At the Devachan” snakes about menacingly with a heavy assist from the sitar. The heavy Led Zeppelin-via-Flaming Lips style percussion works well with “Eastern Star,” the sitar embellished with strings. Tackling a Cream cover is an audacious way to end an album, but they pull it off, as “I Feel Free” works perfectly in a way that’s both modern, and faithful to the spirit of the original. A mix of The Coral, Triptides and Bhopal’s Flowers is a great start to a mix for what hopefully will be a (cautiously) celebratory summer of 2021. Those left wanting more should also pick up last summer’s “Diamond Queen” / “The Majestic Purple Sky” single.
12. Dry Cleaning – New Long Leg (4AD)
Based on the strength of this London post-punk band’s two promising EPs in 2019, I’ve been anticipating their full-length debut. Spoken word style is a tricky thing which achieved inconsistent results from the talky likes of The Hold Steady and Sleaford Mods, but Art Brut and Fontaines D.C. showed it can be done well, and is at least preferable to screamo and black metal shrieking. Dry Cleaning’s Florence Shaw pulls it off remarkably well, approximating a hyper-sardonic thousand yard gaze into the abyss, with the help of some particularly witty and insightful lyrics full of eccentric imagery (Sherlock Holmes museum of break-ups, pop rocks sucking cabbies, some surreal non-sequiturs worthy of The Fall’s Mark E. Smith). The well-crafted, spare and dubby guitar-bass-drums art rock/post-punk backdrop also keep things interesting, drawing inspiration from P.i.L., The Slits and Young Marble Giants, while managing to sound as relevant as contemporaries like Mere Women and Black Country, New Road.
13. Dunbarrow – III (Blues For the Red Sun)
It’s hard to believe that it’s been seventeen years since Witchcraft released their debut album in 2004, mixing doomy Sabbath worship with early Pentagram and other proto-metal when no one else did. That soon changed and the 2010s saw the release of at least 100 good to great proto-metal albums, peaking in 2012-13 with Witchcraft’s Legend, Troubled Horse, Hidden Masters, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, Golden Void, Wolf People, Purson, Blood Ceremony, Avatarium and Brimstone Coven. Trondheim, Norway’s Dunbarrow were a welcome addition when they debuted in 2016 with a well executed sound that starts with Witchcraft and also draws on the likes of Cream, Uriah Heep and more obscure but swingin’ blues rock and proto-metal from Leafhound and Toad. The creamy guitar tones and hooky vocal melodies are strong as ever, and the band is stretching outward into subtly more progressive territories with an assist from Auver Gaaren on keys and mellotron on opener “Death That Never Dies” and Steeleye Span-style prog folk on “Turn In Your Grave.” Dunbarrow are rubbing elbows with the masters now, ensuring this fairly specialized subgenre continues to flourish into the decade.
14. Lucid Sins – Cursed! (Totem Cat)
There’s no shortage of progressive psych bands that mess with occult rock, but every now and then one bubbles to the top of the cauldron and I take notice. Rooted in the likes of Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash and Blue Oyster Cult, Glasgow, Scotland’s Lucid Sins self-released their debut Occultation in 2014. The seven years spent on its follow-up were well spent, as the riffs and melodies evoke early Witchcraft, but with more meticulous arrangements and studio know-how, not to mention more nimble musicianship, including some jazz chops. Organs and strings flesh out the atmospheric tunes, creating a darkly moody, but also beautiful sound matching up perfectly with the cover art by early 20th century illustrator Alan Odle.
15. Magic Castles – Sun Reign (A Records)
Discovering a new favorite band is exciting, but then I get mixed feelings when I realize I’d dropped the ball on hearing their previous half dozen albums for the last decade, especially coming from a scene I was once a part of. It’s just part of the process, attempting to sift through the vast explosion in musical content that has become available the past decade, as album releases have reached an all time high, surpassing 100,000 albums a year. Minneapolis’ Magic Castles started about as underground as you can get, releases a couple cassettes in 2008-09 that weren’t even available on Bandcamp. Their officially released albums on Anton Newcombe’s (Brian Jonestown Massacre) A Records, however, are all sparkling psych folk/dream pop gems — Magic Castles (2012), Sky Sounds (2014), and Starflower (2015). Sun Reign had a long incubation period, with Jason Edmonds taking a break from live shows and recording in his studio and with a new lineup. The album was delayed not only by the pandemic, but a car accident in 2019 that he eventually recovered from with help from a Gofund me campaign. Their roots in 60s jangly psychedelic folk from both Britain and California, breathy vocals and gauzy atmospherics drawn from shoegaze and dream pop along the lines of Spiritualized and local mates The Flavor Crystals, combine into a creamy and dreamy sound that’s consistently ethereal, but with memorable hooks and melodies. Along with the obscure cover of Danny and the Counts’ “Ode to the Wind,” this is their best batch of songs yet. I even heard Iggy Pop play them on his BBC 6 show the other night! Their music has been pulled from Bandcamp, which I think is a mistake. | Buy
16. Snail – Fractal Altar (Snail)
A key link between the stoner psych territory pioneered by tour mates Sleep, and the grunge of Screaming Trees, Snail might have been considered as vital as Fu Manchu had they not split for 15 years. Fractal Altar is their fourth album since re-igniting in 2009 and they’re as underrated as ever, while releasing consistently great albums with engaging songs and sticky riffs that at times measure up to the work of Queens of the Stone Age. Comparisons are inevitable with Mark Johnson’s vocals having a similarity to Josh Homme’s sound and approach, embellished with some multi-track harmonizing.
Rest of the Best
17. White Void – Anti (Nuclear Blast)
Anti is an exceptionally sleek debut from the Norwegian progressive hard rock band White Void.
18. Greenleaf – Echoes From A Mass (Napalm)
Greenleaf is another great entry from the stoner rock Dozer side project that’s amassed an impressive six album catalog.
19. Greta Van Fleet – The Battle At Garden’s Gate (Lava/Republic)
Despite my reservations, I’m still enjoying much of the Greta Van Fleet album. For vinyl fetishists, it seems they went all out to put together a nice package too.
20. Glen – Pull! (Anesthetize)
Pull! is the second album from German post-rock/psych prog/art rock band Glen, mastered by the legendary Mack (Queen, hundreds of other classic bands).
21. Dans Dans – Zink (Unday)
Belgian band Dans Dans mixes up an original mix of mostly instrumental jazz fusion, blues psych noir on their fifth album.
22. Papir – Jams (Stickman)
Fans of psychedelic space rock jams shouldn’t overlook the mammoth double album by Danish legends Papir, simply titled Jams. It’s their seventh, and solidifies their place as one of the six best six album runs in the 21st century.
23. Yoo Doo Right – Don’t Think You Can Escape Your Purpose (Mothland)
Canadian post-rockers Yoo Doo Right are named after the Can song from Monster Movie (1969). The kosmische flows strong in these lads, as does bits of shoegaze, noise and avant rock. Their full-length has been long awaited after EPs in 2016-17, and a split single with Japanese psych pioneers Acid Mothers Temple last year.
24. The Babe Rainbow – Changing Colours (Eureka)
The Babe Rainbow, formed in 2013 in Byron Bay, Australia, has released four albums of relatively understated psych pop. Their latest features a newly bouyant, bubbly rhythmic schematic that hints they’ve been listening to some Afro Pop and Juju. The band fuses vintage psych with modern production without sacrificing guitars, producing laid back, air conditioned summer pop much more successfully than, say, the last Tame Impala.
25. A Better Tomorrow – Spiritual Crossing (La Tanierre)
This French band has a unique twist on psych prog that’s based in both soul and jazz fusion. It’s a direction Danish band Fuzz Manta hinted at, but folded before they could properly explore this new territory. I also hear some of The Devil’s Blood, but with more of a stoner/desert rock vibe than occult psych noir. I’m chuffed to see A Better Tomorrow pick up on this unique hybrid and push it forward.
26. Trees Speak – PostHuman (Soul Jazz)
PostHuman is the third album from Tucson’s Trees Speak in ten months, and their best so far. Electronic jazz fusion kosmische, cosmic desert psych, Italian horror soundtracks and prog all contribute to their sonic explorations.
27. NOV3L – Non-Fiction (Flemish Eye)
Vancouver post-punkers NOV3L arrived on my radar with their 2019 debut self-title EP that may have seemed to click all the expected boxes of spindly guitars, yawpy vocals and angular dance-funk Gang Of Four rhythms, but there was just enough creativity and variety (both in songwriting and instrumentation that includes saxophone and piano/keys) found throughout the eight concise tracks to show the band’s potential. They have indeed progressed on their full-length debut, expanding their scope and writing some truly memorable songs, like “Falling In Line,” which quickly got under my skin even as I was skipping around over 11 hours worth of new releases for that week. “Apath,” “Interest” and “Status” cover additional ground in textures and atmosphere, sweetened with just enough melody, particularly on the latter.
28. Iceage – Seek Shelter (Mexican Summer)
Also from Denmark, Iceage tweaks their art punk garage noir sound, produced by Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom. We get less noir, but more string and brass orchestration and choir-assisted art rock. It appears to be working, getting them more critical attention than ever before.
29. BRUIT ≤ – The Machine Is Burning and Now Everyone Knows It Could Happen Again (BRUIT ≤)
French post-rockers BRUIT ≤ made an impact on their full-length debut with artful integration of modern classical, ambient and drone.
30. DVNE – Etemen Ænka (Metal Blade)
Fans of Mastodon, Baroness, Anciients and Tool take note, British progressive sludge metal behemoths DVNE are back to scratch that itch in the increasingly long gaps between albums by your faves.
31. Domkraft – Seeds (Magnetic Eye)
Sweden’s Domkraft are also recommended to such fans who are up for a bit more stoner doom than prog.
32. Field Music – Flat White Moon (Memphis Industries)
Sunderland’s Field Music’s ninth album of prog/art/chamber pop is their best in over a decade. Maybe they’ll live up to being XTC’s successors after all.
Want to dig deeper than the top 30 or 50? Bubbling under: Hooveriii, Squid, Wytch, The Anchoress, Fucked Up, Monster Magnet, black midi, Jane Weaver, Flying Colours, King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and more. There’s over 200 albums worth checking out just from this spring, nearly 500 so far this year. | List Search
- Panopticon – …and Again Into the Light (Bindrune) | May 15 | USA | Bandcamp
- Squid – Bright Green Field (Speedy Wunderground) | May 07 | UK | Bandcamp
- Kauan – Ice Fleet (Artoffact) | Apr 06 | Finland | Bandcamp
- The Black Heart Death Cult – Sonic Mantras (Kozmik Artifactz) | Mar 26 | Australia | Bandcamp
- Field Music – Flat White Moon (Memphis Industries) | Apr 23 | UK | Bandcamp
- Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few – Cosmic Transitions (Division 81) | May 21 | USA | Bandcamp
- Wheel – Preserved In Time (Cruz del Sur) | Apr 09 | Germany | Bandcamp
- The Moose – Spature (Desert Animal) | Apr 22 | USA | Bandcamp
- Idle Ray – Idle Ray (Idle Ray) | May 07 | USA | Bandcamp
- White Void – Anti (Nuclear Blast) | Mar 12 | Norway | Bandcamp
- USA/Mexico – Del Rio (Riot Season) | Mar 19 | USA | Bandcamp
- Khirki – KTHNΩΔIA (Khirki) | May 21 | Greece | Bandcamp
- Greenleaf – Echoes From A Mass (Napalm) | Mar 26 | Sweden | Bandcamp
- Papir – Jams (Stickman) | Apr 09 | Denmark | Bandcamp
- Yoo Doo Right – Don’t Think You Can Escape Your Purpose (Mothland) | May 21 | Canada | Bandcamp
- The Babe Rainbow – Changing Colours (Eureka) | May 14 | Australia | Bandcamp
- The Red Locusts – The Red Locusts (Lolipop) | Mar 16 | USA
- Domkraft – Seeds (Magnetic Eye) | Apr 30 | Sweden | Bandcamp
- A Better Tomorrow – Spiritual Crossing (La Taniere) | May 17 | France | Bandcamp
- Hooveriii – Water For The Frogs (Reverberation Appreciation Society) | Apr 09 | USA | Bandcamp
- black midi – Cavalcade (Rough Trade) | May 28 | UK | Bandcamp
- African Imperial Wizard – Isandhlwana (Tesco) | May 07 | Angola | Bandcamp
- Trees Speak – PostHuman (Soul Jazz) | May 21 | USA | Buy
- BRUIT ≤ – The Machine Is Burning and Now Everyone Knows It Could Happen Again (BRUIT ≤) | Apr 02 | France | Bandcamp
- DVNE – Etemen Ænka (Metal Blade) | Mar 19 | UK | Bandcamp
- The Smashing Times – Summer Inside (Heavy Numbers Choons) | May 07 | USA | Bandcamp
- Cool Ghouls – At George’s Zoo (Empty Cellar) | Mar 12 | USA | Bandcamp
- Mdou Moctar – Afrique Victime (Matador) | May 21 | Niger | Bandcamp
- Vision Video – Inked in Red (Vision Video) | Apr 16 | USA | Bandcamp
- Daniel Romano – Kissing the Foe (You’ve Changed) | Mar 30 | Canada | Bandcamp
- Ryley Walker – Course In Fable (Husky Pants) | Apr 02 | USA | Bandcamp
- Blue Ocean – Blue Ocean (Paisley Shirt) | Apr 16 | USA | Bandcamp
- Greta Van Fleet – The Battle At Garden’s Gate (Lava/Republic) | Apr 16 | USA | Buy
- Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – Theory Of Ice (You’ve Changed) | Mar 12 | Canada | Bandcamp
- Wytch – Exordium (Ripple) | May 21 | Sweden | Bandcamp
- Hedvig Mollestad Trio – Ding Dong. You’re Dead. (Rune Grammofon) | Mar 19 | Norway | Bandcamp
- Blanketman – National Trust EP (PIAS) | Mar 19 | UK | Buy
- Fucked Up – Year of the Horse (Matador) | May 07 | Canada | Bandcamp
- Monster Magnet – A Better Dystopia (Napalm) | May 21 | USA | Bandcamp
- Alastor – Onwards and Downwards (RidingEasy) | May 28 | Sweden | Bandcamp
- Wurld Series – What’s Growing (Meritorio) | Mar 16 | New Zealand | Bandcamp
- Roy – Roy’s Garage (Idee Fixe) | May 14 | Canada | Bandcamp
- Tony Allen – There Is No End (Blue Note) | May 07 | Nigeria | Buy
- Real Numbers – Brighter Then EP (Slumberland/Meritorio) | Mar 19 | USA | Bandcamp
- Muito Kaballa Power Ensemble – Mamari (Rebel Up!) | May 28 | Germany | Bandcamp
- Sons Of Kemet – Black To The Future (Impulse!) | May 14 | UK | Buy
- Vokonis – Odyssey (The Sign) | May 07 | Sweden | Bandcamp
- The Reds, Pinks And Purples – Uncommon Weather (Slumberland) | Apr 09 | USA | Bandcamp
- Holiday Ghosts – North Street Air (FatCat) | May 21 | UK | Bandcamp
- Frost* – Day And Age (InsideOut) | May 14 | UK | Buy
- Skegss – Rehearsal (Loma Vista) | Mar 26 | Australia | Bandcamp
- UV-TV – Always Something (PaperCup) | May 28 | USA | Bandcamp
- Big Brave – Vital (Southern Lord) | Apr 23 | Canada | Bandcamp
- Haunt – Beautiful Distraction (Church) | Apr 02 | USA | Bandcamp
- Winter McQuinn – A Rabble of Bees (Third Eye Stimuli) | Apr 30 | Australia | Bandcamp
- Mark & The Clouds – Waves (Gare Du Nord) | May 14 | UK | Bandcamp
- Jeffrey Silverstein – Torii Gates EP (Arrowhawk) | Apr 16 | USA | Bandcamp
- Jordsjø – Pastoralia (Karisma) | May 07 | Norway | Bandcamp
- The Black Keys – Delta Kream (Easy Eye) | May 14 | USA | Buy
- Jeff Rosenstock – Ska Dream (Polyvinyl) | Apr 20 | USA | Bandcamp
- Nashville Ambient Ensemble – Cerulean (Centripetal Force) | Mar 19 | USA | Bandcamp
- Ciccada – Harvest (Bad Elephant) | Apr 23 | Greece | Bandcamp
- The Lucid Dream – The Deep End (Holy How Are You) | Apr 30 | UK | Bandcamp
- Sacred Shrines – Enter the Woods (Rebel Waves) | Apr 23 | Australia | Bandcamp
- Michael Beach – Dream Violence (Goner) | Mar 19 | Australia | Bandcamp
- Misophone – And So Sinks The Sun On A Burning Sea (Another Record) | May 28 | UK | Bandcamp
- New Pagans – The Seed, The Vessel, The Roots and All (New Pagans) | Mar 19 | UK | Bandcamp
- Adult Books – Grecian Urn (Taxi Gauche) | Mar 26 | USA | Bandcamp
An album from February 5 that deserves a belated mention.
Made Kuti – For(e)ward (Chocolate City)
Just when you thought the throne to the Afrobeat kingdom would naturally be taken over by new, young artists, the Kuti’s continue to keep it in the family with an almost ceremonial passing of the torch via a joint release between father, Femi Kuti and son Made called Legacy +. While Femi has never made a bad album, he was getting eclipsed by younger brother Seun Kuti with albums like A Long Way To The Beginning (Knitting Factory, 2014) and Black Times (Strut, 2018). He sounds invigorated by his semi-collaboration with his son on Stop The Hate, but Made is clearly the emerging star, playing all the instruments and giving the genre pioneered by his grandfather Fela and Tony Allen a fresh spin.
